Future uncertain for Missouri State's Allen

Terry Allen

Missouri State's football program got a shot in the arm with last week's student vote for a $50 per semester fee. It'll help fund a roughly $10 million renovation of Plaster Sports Complex by the start of next season.

Following Saturday's victory over nationally ranked South Dakota State, Bears coach Terry Allen talked for a couple of minutes about the fee's projected impact on the university as a whole, not just athletics. Then he added an interesting comment that followers of the program surely must also be thinking.

"We hope we're here to see it," Allen said of himself and the coaching staff.

As the season enters its final month, Missouri State is back where it was a year ago - with Allen's future as coach uncertain. The Bears are 2-6 and perhaps in need of sweeping the final four games to buy Allen more time.

With one year remaining on his contract at $108,211, Allen believes his team is primed for a fast finish and momentum headed into the offseason. But even that might not be enough. The overall body of work isn't pretty as Allen is 30-55 in eight seasons.

Largely, he's been done in by a failure to deliver in close games. The Bears have four losses this season by a touchdown or less and 17 during Allen's tenure.

When announcing last November that Allen was coming back after a 3-8 season, athletic director Kyle Moats said he expected the 2013 to be a playoff contender. School president Clif Smart said in August, "We anticipate playing meaningful games in November and being in the hunt for a playoff berth."

Smart did add a disclaimer. Injuries to key personnel, he said, "could blow that up" and that Moats would have to take a look at the whole situation in that case.

The Bears lost their top running back, Ryan Heaston, in the first quarter of the season opener to a broken collarbone. Heaston returned on Saturday, rushing for 122 yards in the victory over South Dakota State. Indeed, he was a big missing piece to the puzzle.

MSU also lost safety Mike Crutcher, one of its top defenders, to a season-ending shoulder injury after game five. Quarterback Kierra Harris didn't play last week, with a knee injury and concussion symptoms.

Moats wasn't giving any hints about Allen's future on Tuesday.

"As always, we'll evaluate the situation at the end of the season," the fourth-year AD said. "We have four games left and we'll evaluate the entire season - like we do all our programs."

It can be one of the toughest-to-watch things in sports, when it becomes obvious a coach is nearing the end and loses his team. Clearly, that hasn't happened in this case and Allen said the players should be commended.

"We have played hard in every game," Allen said. "We haven't gone out and had a downer, by any means. It's the character that I speak of about this team."

Allen seems determined to shift the focus away from his future to the players having fun over the next four weeks. It's been a season in which the Bears lost a season-opener to a 4-7 team with a new coach; lost 41-38 at Murray State in the final seconds; and 17-13 to then-No. 13 Central Arkansas.

"Just do what we do, keeping plugging away," Allen said of himself and the staff. "The guys on this team have been pretty resilient to everything."

Finishing the season on a roll isn't a stretch. The final four opponents (Western Illinois, Indiana State, Southern Illinois and Northern Iowa) are a combined 3-11 in the league. Win them all and the Bears are 6-6 overall and 6-2 in the top-rated FCS league in the nation. Would it be enough for Allen and staff to coach in the updated Plaster?

"That would put us 6-2 in the league and who knows what can happen (playoff-wise) there," Allen said. "But one game at a time, baby, one game at a time."

Memories of Keck

It was a shock on Monday to learn of Michael Keck's death. The former Missouri State linebacker, who retired from the sport in the spring of 2011 after fighting concussion symptoms, was only 25. He died in a Colorado hospital from a staph infection of the heart, according to multiple reports.

Keck, a highly decorated high school athlete out of Harrisonville, earned a scholarship to Missouri but played little there. He told me after transferring to Missouri State in 2009 that he didn't feel like he fit in there and seemed to have found a happy football home in Springfield.

I'll always remember the nice emails Keck's grandmother, Charlotte Keck, used to send my way every time I quoted Michael in a story. Charlotte Keck raised Michael as his parents had a troubled background. Michael always smiled when I mentioned his grandmother had sent an email.

"She's a great lady," Michael told me during the 2009 season, when he had 65 tackles, 2.5 sacks and two fumble recoveries in 11 starts for the Bears.

Keck's funeral is 2 p.m. Saturday at Harrisonville High's gym with visitation from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Contributions to the "In Memory of Michael Keck" fund can be made at Country Club Bank, 100 East Pearl, Harrisonville, 64701.